Christmas 09 and the Winter Season

Here it is 2010 already. They were right when they say time flies! I'm finally feeling better after being sick on and off literally since September. Jacob has another mild cold this week, but I guess that's par for the course with preschool, play dates and shopping carts, even though I thoroughly wipe them down. I ended up with bronchitis and possibly a touch of pneumonia right smack during Christmas. I was actually at the dr Christmas Eve. Never in my life have I ever had either and hope that I never do again.

As most of you experienced the big snow just before Christmas that in some places is just now melting. Some call it the "blizzard of '09", but my friends, isn't a blizzard supposed to be wildly blowing winds and whiteouts? This was just a big, big snow of 11-16+ inches. Too bad we were too sick to get out and make snowmen or sled. Speaking of, I have never, ever been sledding or snow tubing or the like. I have a feeling that's going to change! I hope we are well enough for the next measurable snow! We also lost power after the snow started on Friday afternoon and did not come back on until early Wednesday morning. I was prepared, but not as prepared as I should have been to be home alone with Jacob and just a kerosene heater for backup heat and cooking. He isn't a big fan of candles, waiting on food and playing in the dim light without the occasional video! He also challenged me with throwing up his kerosene heated supper 4 times that night. No running water (we're on a well), no lights, no Bill. We have to give him up during bad weather to keep the estate alive and well. By Saturday morning, Bill was able to make it home through all the fallen trees in his 4 wheel drive truck, pack us all up and head over to his parents until the power came back on. I'm just glad there's only 3 of us to fit in the cab of his truck!

During this time, I barely knew what day of the week it was due to being so sick and out of routine. I don't think I even wrapped one present for Christmas. Bill helped out on that end. He too even caught a mild round of the bronchial stuff, but pulled through. Since then, I've started a good daily dose of vitamin C and probiotics. I can tell a BIG difference!

Speaking of Christmas...I had a few things saved up for a while from different sales, so plenty to keep Jacob busy. His favorite thing of all just happened to be blank paper and crayons. Now if it would only stay that way! We were able to pull it together to have Christmas Eve at my parents, Christmas morning at our house and Christmas day at Bill's parents. It was a lot to put into 2 days. Note: I'm rethinking how next year is laid out. It's very exhausting and we don't really get a chance to stop and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of Jesus.

Jacob has really enjoyed what he received and I'm able to pull some things out that I put back as he gets a little older and on wintry days to keep him stimulated and occupied. He really is amazing, every single day. He absorbs so much and is both funny and challenging as he learns more how to communicate and tries to do things by himself.

I have been quiet on the blog site for a while now and while I've enjoyed the spare time - which was taken up by becoming a coupon queen - I feel like I'm doing a disservice to ourselves and Jacob for not capturing more of his life in these words and stories. So, I vow to keep a bit more frequent recollection of major events and happenings. Can you believe, he's almost two?!?

Quiet on the Blog Boards

In looking at some blogs I'd bookmarked and hadn't been to in a while, I discovered several had gone silent. In following some redirects, I discovered something interesting and thought provoking. It wasn't something I'd expect, but definitely food for thought.

Several moms have been contimplating the balance between over sharing all the tid bits of their lives and their kid's lives vs. reverting back to the day when you kept things to yourself and just focused on raising your kids and serving the Lord. A lot of time is spent and wasted online. I find it a hard balance too as I really enjoy it (blogging, FB) and it helps me to stay connected to those far away.

I don't think I'm going anywhere, but as I have in the past, will think twice before blurting out the latest episode of spilt milk.

To see the articles, click Here and Here. Enjoy.

September '09

As promised, here's the long awaited update. I don't know how I got so far behind, but my fellow mates must be in the same boat, for as some are 10 months behind or more! Guess that's just what happens when we hit this toddler age (and facebook takes precedence!).

Let's start back in September. We took a short vacation to Pigeon Forge, staying in a cabin as that seemed more amicable than a hotel room. This particular cabin had some issues, but was very convenient to everything, so we made the best of it. Jacob had just gotten sick with another cold, so we spent a lot of time just hanging out and resting. He and I have caught our share of sickness this Fall. Most I've ever had. I attribute it to working with all those little kiddies at preschool and taking Jacob to the gym (open free play for toddlers).

Our main event was to go to the aquarium in Gatlinburg and as suspected, Jacob loved it! He kept saying "ish, ish! or fis, fis!". He especially liked the part where it went floor to ceiling and then through the tunnel. It was very exciting to see him experience something like that for the first time and in person.

Other September events took us on a play date to see the farm animals at the Biltmore Estate. He really liked being right next to them instead of being separated by a fence. I think this will become one of my more frequented activities as Spring rolls around again and more and more friends/family obtain season passes to join us!

Jacob also learned a bit about sharing Mommy and Mommy learned what it was like to take care of a baby and a toddler while baby sitting. My hands were definitely full, but I think I can manage it one day. Just not yet. :) Gotta get through potty training first. (Hoping to begin in December).

October '09

October brought about more craft activities as the days started getting colder and shorter. A little someone still has a ways to go before he's a Picasso. We thought it would be cool to venture towards Hendersonville to a pumpkin patch/apple farm. It was a nice day to get out. Not many pumpkins to be had, but Jacob had fun looking at more animals and riding on the wagon.

Jacob has gotten to that stage where he is really taking off with different skills and vocabulary. The "Your Baby Can Read" series really has worked for him as he can read words and not just pictures. He is also picking out individual letters on different items and correctly identifying them! Yesterday, he was counting the organge pieces on his tray. That was an exciting moment for me! It's amazing how much and how quickly they soak up and learn new things.

I know that's a quick recap, but didn't want to bore you. Hope to see you again on here soon!

August News

So much going on...so much to keep up with! And it's getting ready to kick into high speed. I've been working at the Merrimon Avenune Preschool this summer and am really loving it. It's such a nice change of pace/scenery than office work. We've been very busy this past week cleaning and moving classrooms per some recent rulings from the fire marshall. I think we're going to pull through and everything will work out better than expected. I'm going from 2 days per week to 4 starting next week, picking up tutoring again twice a week and a baby sitting job. Whew!

I took Jacob for his first official day at preschool a couple of weeks back with anticipation that he would go one day a week for a few weeks, then bump it up to two. He then picked up another cold type virus that ran through everyone in our house and I'm just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel a week and a half later.

Jacob did pretty well his first day. He went back with me today -a work day- and had fun running in and out of all the rooms and down the hall. He goes back next Thursday for another "first day" since he will be in a different class room with different kids and teachers as they are starting Fall classes.

As most of you have taken your vacations during the summer, we're getting ready to head off right after Labor Day to Pigeon Forge - taking advantage of lower rates. We're staying in a cabin as opposed to a hotel room so that Jacob will be able to run around more, get outside and it feel more like home. We'll be hitting up the aquarium while we're there. I think he'll have a blast seeing all of those fish and be able to enjoy it. I'm very ready to get away and take a break from life as we know it for a few days.

Jacob has gotten better with going down for naps/sleeping, although not perfected it yet. He's been waking up once a night and taking some water (yeah! no milk! - we retired the bottles and put them into storage!) and going right back to sleep, but only sleeping a total of 9 hours or so with a 2 hour afternoon nap. We keep tweaking it, so I know we'll eventually be able to sleep through the night again soon. He's been eating like a horse and growing like a weed. I don't know where he puts all of that food! He eats as much or more than I do sometimes! He is saying lots of words and putting together 2 word phrases. Mamaw and papaw got him the Your Baby Can Read! series, so we've been working with it. He likes to recite words he knows well or has just learned when he's going to bed and waking up - as well as vacuuming at 6:30 in the morning!!

As far as Bill and I, we're good overall. Just can't seem to get done all that needs to be done around the house, which needs about a week's worth of work. Bill has had some elevated numbers come back on his triglycerides recently and is getting his liver and surrounding region looked at this week due to some prolonged pain he's been having. Pray that everything is OK, manageable and fixable. We're doing some diet and lifestyle modifications to try to get both of us into good shape.

And finally, speaking of good shape, my dad is improving every day from his quadruple bypass surgery done about a month ago. They, too are making modifications to life and diet. This has slowed dad down quite a bit and came fairly unexpected, but he's expected to make a good recovery and is doing very well in rehab right now.

Pictures to come later. For the most up-to-date info/photos/video, check us out on Facebook!

July Pics

Late July

Here we are in late July wondering once again where the time goes. Most of my updates, like most of yours go to Facebook now days. It's quick, easy and effortless. OK, the videos require a little effort.

The most recent news is my dad's pending triple bypass surgery. He seems way too young for this to be staring us in the face. He went in for a nuclear stress test on Friday and failed it. Apparently so much so that they said "Go straight to the ER, but do not collect $200!" He had a heart cath done Monday morning and we were really hoping they would find nothing or would at least be able to do repairs with a stent or balloon. Guess what? He failed that one too! Two for two, dad. Not good odds! They found that he has a mild narrowing of the left artery going to his heart and a very tight narrowing (almost closed) of the front one. Medication or other methods cannot fix this, so we prepared ourselves for the pending surgery on Tuesday. Please keep him, and the rest of the family, in your prayers.

On a lighter note, I've began work at a preschool. It's a welcomed change from the desk jobs that I'm used to. Different scenery, different challenges and sweeter appreciation from those little kids! I'll be working with the 3-5 year olds starting in September. I've only worked with this class once so far. It's quite different than the average classroom I'm used to. It runs on the Montessori method. If you're not familiar, *google it*. That class is packed to capacity each day. I think there are 13-15 kids on the roster. We usually end up sending a couple to another lesser capacity classroom to even the load. The day usually goes by pretty quick and the pace is always changing, so no worries of boredom here! I'll also be picking the tutoring back up when school starts back, so maybe we'll make some headway on our savings and maybe even take a little vacation!

Bill stays busy with new projects on the estate, trying to keep everyone in line. Looks like his blackberry is doing a good job of keeping his "brain" organized. He's also staying busy with a retaining wall project over at Doug & Heather's place. So not much time to work on the honey-do list. Maybe there's hope of more time together come winter.

Last but not least, Jacob passes development milestones each and every day. I think he's almost ready to start sentences! That might be pushing it a little bit, but he's got a good collection of words he can say and many more he can understand. One of our recent favorites is when we say:

mommy/daddy:"Wuuuun (One)"

jacob: "Teeeeewww"

mommy/daddy: "Threeeee"

jacob: "naaaho" (no)!

=1, 2, 3, no!

When Nana says it it's 1,2 3, GO!

I think once all of the excitment is over with dad's surgery, we're going to take Jacob off the bottle. Probably should have done it before now. We heard that might be why he's still getting up at night. If we just offer him a drink in his crib from a sippy cup, it might (hopefully) cut all of that out.

I try to keep him busy with different things when I'm not working, like checking out new playgrounds. We really like Avery's Corner, which is just off I-26 in Woodfin, fairly close to home. Then there is the huge playground in Montreat (up by Black Mountain). They have lots of picnic tables, restrooms, large sandbox (if their preschool isn't in session) and a creek that they can play in. We could almost stay there all day! There is a nice, raised walkway that takes you from the parking lot, down by the creek to the playground. We'll have to get the playgroup (or anyone really) together and go again soon!

So I leave you with some recent pictures of the forementioned stories.